In Brief : Sports Agent’s Conviction Upset

The game-tampering conviction of former Atlanta sports agent Jim Abernethy was thrown out today by a state appeals court that said prosecutors “utterly and completely” failed to show a law was broken.

The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, saying the state’s own evidence showed Abernethy innocent, held that he could not be retried on the charge.

But Atty. Gen. Don Siegelman, whose office pushed for the state’s first prosecution of a sports agent for financial dealings with college athletes, is expected to ask the Alabama Supreme Court to restore the conviction.

Abernethy was sentenced to one year in prison and fined $2,000 after a Lee County Circuit Court jury convicted him earlier this year on a misdemeanor count of tampering with a sports event.

The case stemmed from Abernethy’s contacts with former Auburn football star cornerback Kevin Porter, who received $2,900 from Abernethy during his senior season in 1987.